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Opinion Journal: A Chavez Defeat

Columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady on the meaning of the Venezuelan elections.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... go another story on this is of ... some hopeful news here on ... the attacks get so ... we want to be hopeful but were still watcher but though this is an absolutely Opel sorer the Comsys from Venezuela Mary Anastasia O'Grady is your IRA as columnist thanks for being here so I ... Photoshop is of ... has lost an election on him but though the Legislature of the candidates he supports ... while he lost relative to what he was hoping for and that is that me ... I this is a congressional action ... on and he was hoping to capture two-thirds of the sea ... seeds and he did not the opposition actually got thirty eight percent ... and they also had fifty two percent of the talking about ... so what is this mean for him why he wanted that ... what you might call a supermajority a ... Asian to enact the certain reforms are the top four yes actually I would say that it means more for the opposition and it means that anything for him he will probably continue in a way that he's been governing ... often by decree ... I'm often amusing in on the fact that yes the military behind him ... ah yes you have the rubber stamp ... Congress because the opposition boycotted the last ... time congressional action ... but I don't think that ... because he doesn't have two-thirds any doesn't have you know ... that that that legal process necessarily the go ahead with more forms that that will stop him ... but it does have a lot of meaning for the opposition ... on day one of their big promises they've been really really disorganized they haven't been able to unite behind single candidate so ... you know I've been in any environment of voting there always a lot of different candidates opposition canapes on about this time a United ... on and I think that there may be very much energized for the two thousand and twelve election ... if anything they did here with a really guarded their ... community they went to the polling places and may ... try to you know really protect from on how voter fraud ... they also know that the deck was stacked against them ... so the fact that they were able to do as well as they did even though there was Jerry Mander in buying ITA president and lots of other trees not known for its legal action else ... we ... could we say this is of ... a turn ... toward a free market so they ... can Venezuela IDC ... generally ... I think it a little early cafe that ... but what I would say is that it shows that the democracy still has a pulse and Venice Whelan that has not been wiped out ... and that's extremely encouraging ... they will continue to ... push and on ... I think that at some point because of high inflation high crime rate ... basically bad governance by Chavez that Tom ... and he is going to be weekend ... that's produced race rare ... basically stem back tomorrow at noon Eastern never didn't for opinion Journal I've thanks ...